The inventor of the present application has been developing a technique with respect to an infusion injection system. For example, the present inventor holds a patent disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4587597 (Patent document 1). Description will be made regarding the points of this technique. This technique relates to an automatic infusion device including a drip tube pressing holder, a flow regulation unit, a drip sensor, a calculation mechanism, an actuator, a liquid level sensor, and a control mechanism. Here, the drip tube pressing holder is provided in order to detachably mount a drip tube provided to an infusion set to be connected to an infusion bottle. The flow regulation unit is arranged below the holder, and is configured to instruct a presser to press and narrow an outlet-side tube of the drip tube so as to enable flow regulation. The drip sensor is configured to detect a liquid drop that drips through the internal space of the drip tube based on received light intensity. The calculation mechanism is configured to calculate the measurement value of the flow based on the number of drops detected by the drip sensor and the measurement time. The actuator is provided to the flow regulation unit, and is configured to move the presser in a front-back direction. The liquid level sensor is arranged at a position below the drip sensor, and is configured to detect the liquid stored in the drip tube based on the received light intensity. At the start of infusion, the control mechanism temporarily instructs the presser to close the tube, following which the control mechanism partly opens the tube. In this stage, when judgment is made that the measurement, value of the flow is equal to or greater than a flow limit value, the control mechanism drives the actuator so as to press and narrow the tube, thereby reducing the flow. This allows the flow of the infusion to be controlled within a predetermined range with a set quantity of flow as its center. Furthermore, the control mechanism is capable of judging the mounting state of the infusion set. With such an arrangement, the control mechanism performs the judgement based on a first output of the drip sensor and a second output of the liquid level sensor. Specifically, when the first output exhibits the same degree of a low-level output value as the second output, when the second output exhibits the same degree of a high-level output value as the first output, or when the second output indicates the output value at the liquid level, judgment is made that the mounting state is abnormal.
At an actual medical treatment site, even if such a technique is employed, there is a need to input accurate information with respect to an infusion set as a condition setting for an automatic infusion device in order to accurately infuse a drug by means of the infusion set and the automatic infusion device. One of the most important pieces of information is the kind of the drip tube (drip amount: drops/ml). Two kinds of drip tubes, i.e., a 20 drops/mi type and a 60 drops/mi type, are required by domestic Japanese law with respect to pharmaceuticals and medical devices. That is to say, two kinds of infusion sets are employed at medical practice sites. One is an infusion set including a drip tube in which the sum total of 20 drops of a drug dripped from a drug outlet of the drip tube is 1 ml. The other is an infusion set including a drip tube in which the sum total of 60 drops of a drug dripped from a drug outlet of the drip tube is 1 ml.
Furthermore, other techniques are known as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2012-5756(Patent document 2), Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2007-487(Patent document 3), and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2003-95440(Patent document 4). With the technique disclosed in Patent document 2, a wristband IC tag and a drug prescription IC tag are employed. The wristband IC tag stores at least patient identification information for identifying the patient. The drug prescription IC tag storing information with respect to the patient identification information and at least the drug to be infused into the patient and the amount to be infused are employed. The information stored in the IC tags are read out and is verified. Subsequently, a drug is properly infused into the patient who is to receive the infusion according to the information with respect to the amount of the drug to be infused. With the technique disclosed in Patent document 3, at least two IC tags are provided. One IC tag is attached to an infusion pack at a position such that information cannot be read out unless the infusion is completed, so that the completion of the infusion can be properly asserted. With the Patent document 4, an IC tag is attached to an infusion pack. After the information is read out from the IC tag, this allows a drug company and drug distribution company to acquire information, via a communication line, with respect to the drugs consumed at the medical institution.
In this manner, IC tags are becoming a technology that is employed in the medical field.